


Forward

by Book_hunting



Category: Hot Wheels: Battle Force Five
Genre: Atchara is socially anxious and an introvert at heart there is no way for romance without slowburn, Canon Divergence, F/M, I have no idea how tagging works, also lowkey slowburn, maybe highkey honestly depending on your limits, none of the relationships are set in stone, past abuse and current forms of mental illness, picks up mid season one cuz thats when all the good episodes are, thats a lie they are all the best episode, this is oc centric fyi, those chaps will have additional warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 17:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16412465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Book_hunting/pseuds/Book_hunting
Summary: Atchara Sanitwong has been on a roadtrip with no end destination for months now and a host of feelings she keeps bottled up in the back of her head from a very tumultuous teenage experience.  She figured she'd keep going until she found a reason to stop or eventually one of her dumb adrenaline rush stunts got her killed.  Other then that she was just getting by, just her, her motorcycle and the american country. That is until, she meets an unlikely figure from her past in an equally unlikely place and accidently gets wrapped up in their conflict with aliens that is all really too much.... But free coffee is free coffee.





	1. Pit Stops

My lips curl at the diner sign, it seemed like the exact kind of place that made foods too salty and far to salty for me to be able to stomach. “Traditional” american food has never been my favourite, and after so many years of surviving on rice, or granola bars and fruit, I have a hard time eating it in general.

But I’ve gone as long as I dare without eating, and this is the middle of the desert, which itself is right in the middle of nowhere. There wont be another restaurant for hours. So I turn into the parking lot, parking my motorcycle in one of the empty spaces.

I stuff my key in my sweater pocket and push my way through the door. The space itself is basically empty, aside from me, a couple in one of the side booths and two employees.

I take a seat at the edge of the counter, dumping my fraying backpack at my feet, scanning the menu above me. Looks as though I’d been right with my gut instinct, but the prices are good, and Im not in a situation to be picky. Fries and coffee are a few bucks each, if I only get that, then I’d still have cash left over.

“Hello! Welcome to Zeke’s, what can I get for you?” chirps a raven-haired waitress from behind the counter. 

I’ve already gone through exactly what I'm going to say and how to phrase it in english, knowing that its a simple thing to say and it won’t give away information about me personally, but I still freeze up for a moment.

“Uh, fries, please. And coffee. Black.”

I may tend to overthink things.

The waitress, whose name is apparently Grace, according to the tag pinned on her pink shirt, asks if I want anything else, but I shake my head, knowing that any more and I wouldn’t have enough for gas.

“Not that I’m able to eat much more then that at this point.” I snort.

Grace the waitress turns around from, stopping in her tracks. “Did you just speak Thai?”

Shit. 

Was I speaking out loud without realizing it? Oh god, what do I do? I’ve blown my cover. He’ll be onto me. Will she know me enough from this one encounter to rat me out? Do I bolt? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. But would that affirm any thoughts that I am me? He probably knows I’m in america already so I’ve just narrowed down

She doesn’t wait for my response. “That’s really interesting, we’ve had a recent influx of foreigners, and actually your the second person I’ve met here that speaks that language.”

Oh no. Oh no. Who else could it be? There is absolutely no way it could be anyone else, out here? It can’t be a coincidence. I need to get out of here.

“He’s actually around your age I think. And comes by around now with a bunch of his friends. I’ll point him out to you if he comes by!” she spins, her ponytail moving wildly behind her as she disappears into the back.

Oh. Ok. There is no chance anyone connected to him would be my age. I should be ok to stay and eat my fries before heading back onto the road. Another segment in the year long constant roadtrip I’ve been on.

The little bell above the door chimed, she spared a glance to see a group of teens walk in, chatting away with each other. The sudden noisiness was stark compared to the quiet that had ruled over the diner moments before.

Grace the waitress set my food on the counter, making an incline with her head to the other group and smiling at me, before going over to serve them. I take another look through the side of my eyes, knowing she meant that the guy she had been talking about a few minutes earlier.

I narrowed out nearly everyone almost immediately based on appearance, I don’t think anyone in this part of the world would know Thai as a second language, not exactly a common choice. That and I nearly immediately picked out one teen who was without mistake from my homeland. I frown, turning back to my food to munch on a couple of fries. With the tousled dark hair and the dark brown eyes, he seems so familiar. But no name is jumping into my mind. I don’t really know any place where I could have met him, especially any place that could have let him to whatever this towns name is.

Best not to linger on it. The coffee mug burns my hand as I drink. I smile a little, compared to the 2$ gas station coffee I’ve had for the past little while, this stuff tasted like heaven.

It’s a small container of fries, and I’m starving, so when the pink waitress comes out with the other groups food, I’m staring at an empty plate.

I’m full though, well, full in the sense I don’t want anymore food but I’d down anymore coffee someone would put in front of me. My mug has cooled down slightly at this point, but it’s still half full.

My gaze runs around the diner as I sip my drink. The whole feel is very- what is the right word, retro, but more in the sense that it was built back when it was modern and simply never updated. I’m looking at the lights hanging above us when I feel someone looking at me. 

My eyes drop, and its the guy. He’s looking at me, incredibly puzzled. Or he just was, because once our eyes meet he turns and looks away.

I’m getting the sinking feeling that he thinks that we’ve met at some point in the past as well. That could potentially be a problem, seeing as the who, when and where are still a mystery.

To follow my personal philosophy, when faced with problems you dont know how to solve and/or social interaction the best way to handle it is to run. Far away.

I set my now empty cup down on the counter, fishing out a 10 dollar bill from the inner pocket of my grey hoodie. It should cover everything I ordered plus a little more, but the coffee was good so I don’t think it’d hurt to be out a dollar or two, short on cash as I was.

Shrugging my backpack across my shoulders, I pull open the door and walk out, sparing only a second to cast a backwards glance to the teen. He’s amiably chatting with his group of friends, not having noticed me leave. He won’t for another few minutes. He, in all honesty, probably won’t think about me again after this day. Or I about him.

And that is probably for the best.


	2. Tornados

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters get longer real quick I swear

My motorcycle is my most treasured possession. It sounds stupid, but it means a lot to me. Not only is it a fantastic bike, and by far the most expensive thing I own, but it has sentimental value. I won my first race, both impromptu and actual competitive, on this motorcycle. That and it had been a gift on my sixteenth birthday. Completely unexpected but loved from the minute I laid eyes on it.

Though it doesn’t look nearly as nice as it did well over a year ago now.A couple scratches marring the right side of it, and definitely in need of a wash, it serves me faithfully to do this day. Today being a clear, sunny, and sadly blisteringly hot day. As it had been for the past week of my travels, since I seem to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, unable to return to civilization.

Maybe its my love for driving this bike, and my streak of impulsive decisions that always seem to occur right after I’ve had coffee that steers me off the road that cuts out of the sand and dust right past the diner, out into the open space.

That, and I doubt there's any speed limits in the desert.

With a grin, I increase my speed and go flying, whipping past cacti and cliffs. My hair is flying out behind me. The feeling of zipping around at such high speeds is almost intoxicating, the thrill of the moment and the sheer pleasure of so fast you’d llok like a blur to whoever happens to catch a glimpse.

Somewhere in the back of my head I know that this is a waste of gas. But frankly, I don’t care right now.

I’m almost drowning in thought and feeling, only noticing my surroundings enough to keep myself from crashing, swerving around cacti and dodging lone rocks.

Then I see something shoot down from the sky a few feet away from me, a vibrant blue- what are they called? A tornado?! Twisting with almost nonexistent force or wind surrounding it. 

Immediately I pull on the brakes, but I’m going to fast and I don’t stop fast enough, and I’m sucked into the tornado.

Rocketing up the inside without any say for it myself, I’m launched out through the top before I can form a coherent thought.

I skid to a halt. The first thing I notice is that I’m not dead. The second thing I notice is my surroundings.

This isn’t earth.

Tall, dark violet walls surround me, like a maze, some walls ending quite short and other seemingly continuing on for miles. Stretching my arm out, I run my fingers along a portion of the wall finding it cool to the touch. The large, shining blue thing that I entered this place from is some ways behind me. The sky is a mass of green streaks and below me is grey, featureless pavement. 

Or perhaps this is what the rest of middle of nowhere, America is like and I just didn’t know.  
I say that thought in my head just as a rumble shakes the metallic ground underneath my feet and a violet wall springs up from the ground, shutting me off from the swirling blue thing from which I came.

 _ **“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”**_ I mutter, tucking my helmet underneath my arm. Now what exactly am I supposed to do?

How about just staying in this spot and curling up and dying?

Ignoring that thought, I jog over, going up against the newly formed wall, pressing my hands up hard against it in various places. With all of my strength I push, hoping that it wasn’t a strong wall. But it doesn’t budge.

With a groan, I turn and walk back, going back over to my bike. Obviously that way is closed off, but maybe 

I start up my bike again, but before I drive off, I stare at the wall between me and my ticket home.  
I mean, theoretically I could… No, no that's a terrible idea. I could have sworn I’m smarter then this.

With that idea firmly out of my mind, I speed off, following, tightly turning the corner and heading in the direction I hope is the right one.

 

I see now that is was not the right direction.

I know because it’s been what’s felt like ages and I still haven’t found my way out. I’ve been going down pathway after pathway, occasionally having to redirect my route as impromptu walls come rocketing out of the ground, I’ve almost crashed into ones I weren’t expecting a few times now.

And while it’s not the right direction, the narrow corridor finally leads into an open space. Slowing down, I think I’v reached the center of this maze, its shaped in a hexagon, and is sloped in a gradual hill, the grey of the ground gradiating into a grey so light its nearly white. Above that is..

It is one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. I hop of my motorcycle, take off my helmet and tucking it underneath my arm. I brush long black strands of my hair out of my face, staring at this.. I honestly don’t know. A few steps, and it’s basiclly right on top of my head. I’m almost want to reach up and try to grab it, but I thinks its too high for me to reach. The markings on it, look vaguely faqmiliar. Pushing up my sleeve on my right arm,and with a sinking feeling in my heart  
The loud sound of a motorcycle jerks me out of my thoughts, a triumphant sounding voice exclaims. 

“The battlekey! Now this was an-” The voice trails off, just as I whip around, my heartbeat picking up in speed. The motorcycle and its rider stand out starkly, the yellow contrasting with the violet of the wall just behind him. I look quickly for any sign of weapon or anything that might point to him to being hostile.

“You’re the girl from the diner! What are you doing here?” he questions. He’s certainly not Grace the Waitress, so he must be the guy I vaguely regognize. But who? I squint, tring to put a name to the person in front of me.

“English is probably a no.” I hear him say to himself quietly, taking a moment of quiet before talking at me agian. _**“Can you understand me?”**_  
I nod stifly, shifting back a few steps towards my motorcycle.

 _ **“Wait! It’s ok, I dont want to hurt you. I’m one of the good guys!”**_ his hands go to his helmet, and he takes it off, moving so he’s standing next to his bike. I know I’ve seen him somewhere before, he looks so familiar; something about the tousled black hair and the dark eyes and the structure of his face.

He’s quiet, aswell, as we mutually try to figure out who the other might possibly be. After a minute or two, he speaks. _**“OK, weird question, but do I know you? I feel like I’ve seen you before but I can’t put-**_  
And then it clicks. I stumble across a memory with a very specific person that I hadn’t really though about in months. A rush of emotions come through aswell as things I’d long forgotton. My voice is raspy even to my own ears and I’m not even evaluating what I’m saying in my head before hand because I want to be right. _**“Zoom?”**_

His eyes light up, and a smile is breaking out on his face and I know I'm right because I've only ever seen that dumb sort of smile on one person before. 

_**“I can’t believe it.”**_ he breathes, and I can’t help but break out into a smile too, because he remembers me and suddenly everything wasn't so horrible. 

all the people to run into, I’m really happy it ends up being my closest childhood friend. 


End file.
